Hong Kong cruise liner to call Motobu Port

Cruise ship Super Star Virgo of the Star Cruises Co. of Hong Kong will make a port call to Motobu Port for the first time on Aug. 24th and every Wednesday after that through Sep. 28th.

Currently, the 75,338-ton cruise liner with a passenger capacity of 1.960 sails out of Canton in China on Sundays and enters Naha port on Tuesdays for an immigration clearance. It then calls to Miyako Port on Wednesdays.

From Aug. 21st, the cruise liner will sail to Motobu instead of Miyako, arriving at 06:00 and departing at 15:00.

According to a Star Cruises spokesman, the maritime conditions around Okinawa are not good after October, and that’s why the service will be discontinued for the winter season. The company doesn’t say why the port of call was changed from Miyako to Motobu, but a cruise industry related person suspects the port on Miyako Island has become very busy, and there’s no space to book a port call.

Either way, both ports lack piers long enough to moor the ship, and passengers have to take a boat from the ship to the port.